How to address suspected 2E issues?

[Anonymous]

My DD is in 3rd grade AAP - she is an extremely bright, abstract thinker and had a very high NNAT and CogAT, but she's a slow processor, spelling is terrible and she has trouble organizing her thoughts in writing (granted, this is an emerging skill at this age). Her 2nd grade teacher said DD pretty much was the slowest kid in the class. Still DD's grades were fine (we put in lots of hours of studying at home) and she always received high marks for effort. Now in AAP, the difference between her IQ and her processing speed is - no surprise - negatively impacting her grades. It takes hours to finish/correct what is supposed to be 30 min of homework each night, and several times she's had to take home and finish work that was supposed to have been completed in class. Still, she loves the class, the peer group and the rich content.

I don't know where to begin to try to address these issues. Teacher generally is not sympathetic (her view is that other AAP families are asking for MORE work, so this is a lesser workload to begin with). DD's grades aren't terrible, but I see a scary trend of spelling not improving despite at-home intervention and omissions/misunderstanding of instructions on tests, etc. Who else at school should I speak with and what can be done about it? Will the school do a WISC or other test for processing, or would I need to do private testing first to prove that there even is a processing problem?

Note - I saved a number of worksheets from her 2nd grade teacher with comments such as DD did not finish, had 30 minutes but only produced two sentences, etc. In other words, I have evidence from the school that DD has had this issue for some time. But of course the teacher and AART offered no suggestions when I asked what can be done about it.

[Anonymous]

You may have already read numerous articles about working memory, processing speed, and executive functioning, but this link has some helpful info re the brain and the issues you described.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/brain-and-learning/

Have you considered medication? For many children, the right medication can make a very positive difference. There are strategies teachers can use to accommodate these children, but some teachers and some high performing private schools don't typically include them.

[Anonymous]

6:46 here. Public school personnel can certainly do the assessment (including such cognitive measures as WISC-IV, DAS-II, etc) as a part of a referral for special education services. You can certainly get a very thorough evaluation through the public schools, depending on the skills of the person who does the eval. The other option is to have a private eval done. Sometimes (not always) a private eval is more extensive in addressing the areas of executive functioning, working memory, and processing speed; but such evals are pretty expensive.

[Anonymous]

Do you feel confident that she could not get an adequate challenge in a regular classroom with Level III support? If her current teacher is not being flexible, perhaps you might find a better fit, teacher-wise in a regular class. Do you have an IEP in place? If not, I would get the ball rolling on that right away. I would suspect though, that you might get a few who jump right to telling you that the difficulty of the work is the issue, instead of looking at the true issues. Did her second grade teacher feel AAP was a good fit?

Despite very high scores, and mostly "o's" my son was not found eligible in 2nd grade, despite being in pool. We decided to hold off a year, and see how he did in a regular 3rd grade class. His 3rd grade teacher was amazing, and really got him. She was also great at dealing with his attention/impulsivity issues. We reapplied in 3rd using the same scores, and breezed in.

Since your daughter has already been found eligible, you can always pull her out, and put her back in once you get a full evaluation. My son has not had a problem starting in AAP as a 4th grader, and we did not do any supplementing this summer.

GL!

[Anonymous]

Your DD is at the age when kids with ADHD are often diagnosed. ADHD would have the kind of impact you are seeing. Its worth having her evaluated.

[Anonymous]

OP -- ADHD-inattentive or Executive Processing Disorder could account for a lot of what you are seeing.

In kids who are gifted sometimes it is hard to prove a child has these disorders because they aer basically doing OK on grade level just aren't reaching their potential.

[Anonymous]

I second the motion to get her evaluated, either through school if you can (you may wish to hire an advocate to press your case) or to get an outside neuropsych evaluation. It seems that getting an IEP in place to give your DD more time on tasks would be essential.

I have one child whom we kept in the regular track for similar reasons (executive function problems overshadowing intellectual abilities) and one who doesn't have these issues and who is in AAP, so I also understand the position of the teacher who says some parents would like to see more homework in AAP (DC in AAP usually gets his homework done in school before he gets home, and when he doesn't, spends at most 15 mn on it and doesn't find it challenging).

[Anonymous]

It sounds like AAP is not a good fit for your child. Perhaps placement in the homeschool with enrichment opportunities would be a more successful experience for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like AAP is not a good fit for your child. Perhaps placement in the homeschool with enrichment opportunities would be a more successful experience for her.

ITA. Not a good fit and it'll eventually affect her sense of self-worth and/or cause anxiety about school.

[Anonymous]

I also agree that AAP probably isn't a good fit. If you had to put in hours of work at home for her to keep up in 2nd grade, where the curriculum isn't that challenging, she's bound to struggle in the AAP environment.

You might be better off putting her back in the regular class, getting IEP accomodations, and supplementing at home with logic games and such to promote her abstract reasoning skills.

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for accommodations or services, your child has to have a disability. For this you are likely to need an evaluation. So, I concur with those who suggest you take that step. Just because your child is struggling, doesn't mean she is entitled to services and or accommodations. Also, without a recognized disability, you are going to have a rough road convincing the school that a problem exists because she isn't keeping up with AAP classes.

[Anonymous]

From what you've written, I disagree with the above posters and I think it is sounding like the school and AAP (GT) program are a good fit for your daughter, but she needs some extra support/modifications to succeed and thrive there. This is exactly why it is fully possible and not very unusual for a student to have an IEP while attending an AAP (GT) center.

This is just me, but I'd go straight to an outside evaluator, see what the results are, and if the results indicate that an IEP would be appropriate, then I'd start that process with the school system. With a child in AAP, you are going to have a harder time convincing a screening committee that testing is necessary toward an IEP, and I'd just skip that hassle and pay to have it done myself. But, if that isn't feasible for you, then start with the school.

I also agree with the posters who said that adhd should be considered here. It's worth a visit to your ped and maybe to a developmental ped to fully explore that possibility.

Good luck. I think you are pursuing some very worthwhile avenues to help your daughter thrive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also agree that AAP probably isn't a good fit. If you had to put in hours of work at home for her to keep up in 2nd grade, where the curriculum isn't that challenging, she's bound to struggle in the AAP environment.

You might be better off putting her back in the regular class, getting IEP accomodations, and supplementing at home with logic games and such to promote her abstract reasoning skills.

I think the AAP could be a great fit for her once they know what the issue is an have strategies to deal with it. She needs an assessment and some testing done to see exactly what the issue is - it definitely sounds like executive functioning deficits. She may have a learning disability. I doubt ADHD as no child with ADHD I have ever known would be able to spend 5 hours a night doing homework every night. Major meltdowns would have occurred. If you can get an evaluation soon then I wouldn't pull the plug on AAP yet.

[Anonymous]

OP, I could have written your post about my daughter. She is incredibly bright but also a slow processor. I think you need a WISC-IV and a neuro psych eval (they can do both at the same time) and then you will know better what to do. If she has ADHD or ADD, a mild stimulant will help her pick up her speed. You don't have to have her on it every day year round, and you can either stop taking it or switch meds if you want-- it's not a life sentence to try it. We did 18 mon of stimulants, and DD did pick up some speed. She learned what it felt like. It's been years since she was on the stimulant. It's not all perfect, she's still slower than a lot of kids, but luckily the older they get, you can find educational situations where the processing issues can be accommodated and then your child's creative and intellectual abilities will shine and not be dragged down so much by the processing piece. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the enormously helpful postings. We're going to go the outside testing route to expedite the eval, and see what the psych. recommends from there. An interesting theme in the posts concerns the possibility of ADD. AAP teacher has noted that DD is well-behaved, actively participates in class, etc., and soccer coach has commented DD is among the most focused on the team. I think AAP teacher sees that DD is capable, and likely because DD is well-behaved, the teacher doesn't yet fully recognize (or at least hasn't raised with me) that DD might have a learning disability. I believe teacher thinks if DD just tries harder (ha!) and adjusts to AAP it will come together.